GET IN THE GAME FOLLOW-UP
Two-Minute Warning
Ed Young
May 5, 2002
There’s nothing like crunch time. I mean—the clock is ticking away—when you have got a couple of minutes to go in the contest, that’s when the game is really on the line. That’s when the players step up and really win the contest.
When I think about crunch time, I think about the greatest basketball player who ever played, Michael Jordan. If you think about Michael Jordan, his career is literally littered with incredible crunch time performances. Michael has the uncanny ability to score when his team needs a bucket. When he entered his freshman year of the University of North Carolina, I’m sure Michael had no idea that the whole season would ride on his shot for the NCAA Title Game. Here is what happened.
(Video)
Push the clock forward to about 1998, Michael found himself in Utah playing for the MBA Championship against the Jazz. It was crunch time. The clock was ticking away and guess what MJ did?
(Video)
In crunch time, decision-making is critical, isn’t it? You’ve got to make the right choices. Usually the drill goes something like this. The clock is ticking away. A wise coach calls a time-out. He gathers his players around them and he gives them a game winning strategy. He says, “Here is what you have to do to put the ball through the net. Here is what you have to do to step up and really win the game.”
Great teams have the ability to do so. Fellowship Church is in crunch time right now. We are facing a two-minute warning. And in a real way, the Lord, who is our coach, has called a time-out. He has gathered his team around and has said, “Here is what I want you to do. Here is my strategy for life.”
His strategy is found in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Very simple. Very basic. The Apostle Paul echoed this in Ephesians 3:10, he said, “The manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church.”
God’s game-winning strategy is to build the church. It’s to build people. It’s also to build buildings to house the people to do what needs to be done within the context of the local church.
About a year ago, Fellowship broke ground on a Creative Communications Complex. We are excited about this facility. On the weekend of June 15th and 16th, we’ll be moving into this complex. I want to give you a quick preview of what’s going to happen in the building. Watch this.
(Video – Tour of the Creative Communications Center)
It’s all about decisions. At Fellowship Church, we unashamedly put a lot of resources and manpower into our children’s ministry because that’s the future. There is no telling the kind of leaders and the kind of people that God will develop over in that facility.
Decision-making does not stop with the children’s ministry. This project also has something else about it that is all about decision. Here’s what I am talking about.
(Video – Tour of the Lake)
We move in the 15th and 16th of June and on that weekend, we are going to have a church-wide baptism. Because the Bible says once we are old enough to understand what it means to make a faith decision, and once we make this choice, then we are to go public and we are to get baptized. So, we are going to able to baptize in the lake which is going to be an awesome thing.
There is another decision and this has to do with another aspect of this complex. Check the side screens out again.
(Video – The Chapel)
We’ll have five positions represented on the team, because there are five players on a basketball team. I think all of us fit in one of these five categories. In fact, I can safely say that every single person in this 11:15 service as I talk about these five positions will say, “Okay, yeah, I’m one. I’m three.” Maybe you are four or five. Let’s talk about the positions. Because it’s crunch time, and we’ve got the ball, and it’s time to step up and play and get in the game.
The first position I’m going to talk about are those people here who are trying out. In the professional sports vernacular, you might call yourselves guys or girls who want to play for the team. Maybe you will call yourself a free agent or something like that.
If you are visiting at Fellowship Church and you are not a member, would you lift your hand just for a second? Lift them up and keep them up there. Unbelievable! We have about 1,000 visitors every single weekend. Let me say once again, welcome to Fellowship Church. You have picked an outstanding weekend to show up here because you are going to hear some real insider information about our church, about what’s going on.
Our statistical data reveals to us that most people who visit Fellowship Church, end up joining the church. Visitors, remember that we are not a big church. We are a small town. We are. We have about 15-17,000 people showing up. That’s a nice size small town. People always want to live in a small town. Well, you’ve got it right here at Fellowship Church. Thanks for being here. Welcome.
Okay. We have another group, another position if you will, on this team. I want to talk to the players. Some of us are players here. I heard from our volunteer ministry several weeks ago that we have over 5,300 volunteers who have specific jobs at least once a month just to make Fellowship Church operative. Is that phenomenal? You guys are players, using your talents and your gifts. Believe it or not, we need more players because, due to our growth, just look around, due to our growth, we have had to add two more weekend services this fall. Our membership department told me a while back that when we began this whole endeavor, this “Get in the Game” project about 24 months ago, we had about 10,000 people showing up at Fellowship Church. Today, we will have anywhere from 15-17,000. So in 24 months, we have grown between 5-7,000 people. So players, we need you.
And others need to step up and play. Players, also, have stepped up financially, because this project costs some serious money. You have committed over and above your regular giving and you have been giving to make this whole thing happen. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your faithfulness.
So we have got some free agents. We’ve got those trying out. We’ve got some players. There is a third group, the injured reserve people. Some of you are injured. I feel your pain. Part of playing is getting injured. Maybe this economy has injured you financially, stock market, or the tragedy of 9/11, maybe you lost your job. Maybe you said, “Okay, I am using my gifts at Fellowship Church, and I have committed financially to make the Creative Communications Complex happen, but due to an injury, Ed, I have not been able to meet my commitment. That’s cool. As a friend of mine says, “Chillax,” and don’t worry about it. That’s fine. We appreciate your commitment.
The fourth group, the fourth position, and this is going to get kind of tough now, are those here and I can’t believe I am saying it, but there are some here who are sitting on the bench. Are you ready for that? Some people are here and saying, “Oh, yeah, I’m a member of Fellowship, but I am sitting on the bench.”
I played basketball at Florida State University, but I sat the bench pretty much my whole career. It’s not that fun to sit on the bench. But I did lead the nation in scoring, warm-up scoring. I averaged 72.3 a game. It got to be so bad, one day my head coach said, “Ed, how many points did you score today in warm-ups?” I said, “I scored 80.” He said, “Okay, that’s pretty good.”
Anyway, some people are sitting on their rears here at Fellowship. What am I talking about? I’m saying you are resting on what you have done in the past. You are saying, “Well, I was involved in Fellowship then. I gave for the worship center. I gave for the parking lot experience, and I gave for the Apex. But now, I am just going to sit this one out. I am going to rest on my laurels.”
I ask you. Think about Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player to ever play. What if Michael, after scoring that basket against Georgetown, what if Michael had said, “You know what? I’m not going to play basketball anymore. I’ve done enough. That’s it. I’m just going to ‘chillax’ and maybe play golf.”
If he would have done that, we would have missed the greatest player to ever walk on the hardwood, the greatest player to ever lace up the sneakers. We would have missed all those phenomenal crunch time performances, all those slam-dunks, all those spin moves, all those defensive plays, all those rebounds, all those assists. We would have missed it. Yet, some of the bench-sitters here are sitting on your fat rear and you are missing out on what God has for you.
You see, here’s how God works. We cannot rest on our laurels. There is season after season. There is project after project. There is challenge after challenge. Because money is a test. It’s a tool, the Bible says, to build the kingdom of God on earth. It’s also a test to see if the Lord is really number one or not. Because I can look at your credit card receipts, your check stubs. You can look at my credit card stuff and my checks and we can tell about each other who is number one.
We might say, “God, you are number one.” But is he really? I love what 2 Peter 1 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Look at Verse 4, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.” Once again, “Participate in the divine nature.”
What happens when someone bows the knee to Christ? What happens when someone makes that decision? I’ll tell you what happens. Jesus Christ infiltrates a person’s life. When Christ comes inside of our life, we are literally partakers, we can participate in the divine nature.
I just did a five-week series on men and women, and we talked about the fact that we are made in the image of God. God has stamped us with significant stamping. One of the significant stamps that God has put on every single person is the stamp of generosity. Our God is a generous God. It’s intrinsically woven into the very fabric and framework of who he is. Thus, when I give, when I’m generous, especially with the most important institution known to man, the local church, I’m going with my nature. Conversely, when I am selfish, when I park my rear on the bench, when I don’t give, I’m literally going against my nature.
Hey, bench-sitters, do you feel dry spiritually? Are you saying to yourself, “Man, my life is just not clicking. My prayers just don’t seem to have power, that octane.” It’s probably because you are sitting on the bench. It’s time to get in the game.
I have a chance to talk to pastors several times a year from all across the country. We have a Creative Church Conference that Fellowship Church does and last time we did it, we had like 1,300 leaders from 35 states and 30 different denominations. Normally, they ask our staff members a lot of questions. When I get a chance to field questions, they always ask me this question, “Hey, Ed, when you talk about finances and money at Fellowship Church, do you ever get complaints? Because our church does. They will just say, ‘The church just wants money. They talk about money all the time.’ Did you ever have that?”
I say, “Yes, I do sometimes. We don’t have a lot of complaints at Fellowship Church, but now and then we will have some negative comments when you talk about money.” Let me tell you why you have negative comments about money. This will help all of us. So if you are thinking negative thoughts right now, or you are thinking about complaining, or maybe you said to your wife, “I can’t believe…,” let me tell you why.
First of all, people who are negative about money are advertising their ignorance. You are saying, “I’m ignorant. I’m stupid. Look at me. I don’t know the Bible.” Because check the side screens out right now. Seventeen of the thirty-eight parables of Christ were about possessions, money, and things. Possessions were mentioned 2,172 times in Scripture, three times more than love, seven times more than prayer, and eight times more than belief. Fifteen percent of the Bible deals with possessions. So really 15% of all my messages should be about the mean green. It should be about money. So if you have a problem, don’t get mad at me. I didn’t write this stuff. Talk to God about it. Some of you, if you are critical, are just showing your ignorance. Some of you, if you are critical, are just showing that you are selfish.
People say, “Well, the church is always talking about money.” Just remember, you are saying, “I’m selfish.” You are selfish. You are duped into thinking that your stuff is your stuff. Come on now. Some people say, “Yeah, I’m a self-made man or a self-made woman. I made the company what it is. I made the money. I did this. I did that. It’s my portfolio, my investment, my homes, my boats.”
Okay, who gave you your creativity? Who gave you your vision, your leadership, your discernment? You didn’t give it to you; God’s given it. God has given you and me a bunch of stuff. We are simply managers of the stuff. That’s what we are. We don’t own the stuff. We are managers. We are going to be held accountable one day concerning how we manage our stuff. Some of us as I have said before have a small pile of stuff; others have a medium pile. Some here probably have a giant pile of stuff. The size of the stuff doesn’t matter. It’s what we do with the stuff.
God says, “I want you to be a river, not a reservoir.” God says, “Don’t damn it up. Let it flow through you and to the most important entity.” Because Jesus said, “I will build my church.” He didn’t say, “I will build my foundation.” He didn’t say, “I will build my university.” He didn’t say, “I will build my parachurch organization.” What did he say? “I will build my church.”
Oswald Chambers said this, “Much of our philanthropy is simply to save ourselves from an uncomfortable feeling.” A lot of us want to give to these certain entities away from the church because it eases guilt. And also, we want to give to these things—not all the time but most of the time—because of ego. Let’s just talk and be honest. Why do people give to universities and stuff? Ego. “I’ll put your name on the building. Name on the gold plate. Name on the wall.”
What did Jesus say? Jesus said, “My economy is different. You give to my deal. Don’t tell anybody. Don’t advertise it. It’s between you and me.” That puts a whole new spin on it. We go, “Well, I want to do the other stuff because if I do the other stuff, people will pat me on the back and put my name in lights.”
We are talking about the most important thing in the universe. We are talking about the local church. The gates of hell will not prevail against the local church. So we have got to talk about money. We have got to talk about it.
Some of us are trying out. Some of us are players. Some of us are on the injured reserve. Some of us are sitting the bench. And some of us here, fifth position—and you are going to love this—are rookies. Rookies. Since we began this project, we have had 3,529 new members join us here at Fellowship. If you are a new member, great! We are glad that you are a part of Fellowship Church. If you are a rookie, you should be fired up.
One of the things people tell me all the time, “Ed, when I go into Fellowship Church I just feel the enthusiasm. I just feel the excitement.” One of the reasons is because we have so many generous people, so many enthusiastic people, so many rookies and so many players. That’s why you feel it, and that’s a very good thing.
So, rookies, just do a quick panoramic view of this facility. Just a quick panoramic view. This thing didn’t just appear out of the air. People before you gave to make this happen. People before you, like myself, sacrificed to make this happen. We gave, we sacrificed, for people who were not at Fellowship Church yet. You have got to give and sacrifice for people who have not shown up yet. Because, had I not given, had many others not given, many of you would not know Christ personally, many of you would not have known your spouse, many of you would not have Christ fully formed in your life right now. But because we gave, look at your life. Look at the change. Look what God is doing. Who is going to do it for the next wave? Who is going to do it for the next group?
It cost $24 million a year just to operate Fellowship Church. Our trustees and financial office informed me several days ago that we only have three weeks worth of reserve cash in the bank. In other words, if we stop giving for three weeks, we would have to shut Fellowship Church down.
Around the community, often times, I am recognized. Like others on the stage, it’s kind of part of what we do. People usually go, “Man, I know you from somewhere, but you look old up close. Are you like the pastor of Fellowship Church?” I go, “Yeah, I am. That’s what they call me.” They go, “Oh, man, Fellowship Church. I’ve been there before. That’s a big church.”
They say this sometimes, “Wow, I hear that is a rich church.” When they say “rich church,” here is my response—this is very theological (Ed laughs)—“Come on, you are joking, aren’t you? Fellowship Church is rich? Are you kidding me?” A rich church does not have only three weeks of reserve cash.
We are not rich. We don’t have any fat cats to just bankroll this deal. They are not here. We have a bunch of people who give and make Fellowship Church happen. And our financial philosophy is very simple. Here we go. Are you ready? We receive offerings. We spend offerings on ministry. I’ll say it again. We receive offerings. We spend it on people and programs and ministry. As I said earlier, this stuff doesn’t just happen, friends. The projectors don’t just happen. The lights don’t just happen. The utilities don’t just happen. The lake doesn’t just happen. Creative Communications Complex doesn’t just happen. Our staff doesn’t just happen. Our mission activities don’t just happen. Our junior high and senior high ministries don’t just happen. It doesn’t just happen here. It takes money to make Fellowship Church go and grow. Don’t be naive and think it just happens.
Quite frankly, many of us who give a lot proportionately, like myself, we are tired of paying the way for a lot of you. We are tired of it. I’m talking about people who have been here for a while. So, don’t sit there and try to wriggle your way out and say, “Well, I better not give. My accountant told me this or that, or explain this or that, or try to rest on what you have done in the past.” Hey, I have played a lot of basketball and when you drive the lane and put up a shot and a big guy blocks your shot, do you know what he says? “Get that stuff out of here.” I’ll tell you, “Get that stuff out of here.” If you do not want to give and step up, leave now because we need your seats. Okay? Make this your last service here. Go to another church in another area that is not going to challenge you. But I am telling you something, friends, as long as our church is growing, we will talk about money.
Sadly—let me smack myself for a second—for the first five years of Fellowship Church, I was scared to talk about money. I thought, “I better not talk about it, because I might offend people, and then they will walk away and go, ‘all the church does is talk about money,’ and I better not say anything.” I began to read the responsibility of what a pastor should do. I began to read that one day I will have to stand before God and give an account of how I taught you about giving. The thing about giving is, God wants to bless you. When you give, God is going to bless you. A lot of you, because you are not giving, you are not being blessed. So if you are not giving, you are short-circuiting the ability of God to bless you the way he wants to bless you.
So, here is where we are because we are in crunch time. We have got the coach looking at the five players in those five positions. Here is where we are. To complete this project, we must receive $6 million over the next 12-14 months. That’s where we are. That’s what our financial office and Board of Trustees have told me. $6 million dollars over and above our regular giving. Here is the good news. We can do this. There is no doubt about it. I cannot tell you the letters and emails we receive about the great things God is doing financially here as people give. I get choked up just sharing some of this stuff with you and talking to you about it. Yes, we can do it.
During this month, the month of May is going to be our commitment month. In the month of June, we are going to ask you to give the largest cash gift from your pledge of twelve months possible in the month of June. We want to take in $2 million of the $6 million in the month of June. Already, just in our last Saturday night’s services—we have a service at 5:00 and 6:30 just like this one—those people committed over $2 million. Is that phenomenal or what? Two million for this project. Six million is what we are shooting for. Two million as a cash deal here in June.
“Yeah, Ed, but I’m saving. I’m saving for a rainy day.” You know what I found out about saving? I’m all for saving. The Bible says to save. But the fact is, God has a lot more rain than we do savings. You hear me screaming? Again, talking to the complainers, I’ve discovered something over the years of ministry, the loudest “boos” always come from the cheapest seats.
Let’s have some fun now. We are going to do something that we have never done in the history of Fellowship Church. But let me tell you why I am doing it—because I felt the leading of the Lord to do it. If you are sitting on the end row, you will see a bunch of cards that say “Get in the Game.” Make sure everyone in your row has one, Get in the Game, The Two-Minute Warning, because this is the strategy on how we are going to do it.
Now, when you receive the card, you don’t have to fill it out. If you want to, you can just draw sketches of the back or something on it. That’s cool. But most of us need to fill this out. Our band is going to play some music while we do all this. When you get this card, you will say on the top, “I/we want to get in the game at Fellowship Church.” Just put your name, address, phone number, city, state, and zip code. See that? Print that. After you have printed all that information, give the card to your neighbor, and then tell your neighbor to really pledge financially to this endeavor. I’m just kidding. But take this and fill it out. This will help a lot of us because we can update our database and all that.
The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. You know what the word “cheerful” means? It means “hilarious.” We should just hilariously give. If we are not giving in a cheerful way, don’t give.
Here’s the first box, “I will make a new commitment to ‘Get in the Game.’” This commitment runs from July 2002 to July 2003. Here is if you are in the first box, if you are trying out. If you are a guest and you want to commit, that’s cool. You are saying, “Wait a minute, Ed, you mean a guest might want to give?”
Yes, let me tell you a cool story. Two years ago, there was a young man at Fellowship Church who was not a Christian. He was visiting our church. He had been a couple of times. We were talking about church and we were talking about student activities and this guy wrote a transcendent check out to our student ministry. We found out that the guy was not even a believer. About a month later, he became a believer and over the last several years, he has been our top donor. Is that amazing? What a story.
If you are a guest, yes, if God is leading, fill it out. Most guests join anyway. Maybe your day is today to join. We are having a Newcomers class after this anyway.
Okay, if you are a rookie, you also fall into the first box. Maybe you are a new member. Maybe you are one of the 3,529. Do what others have done before you. Maybe you are on the bench. It’s time for us to get off the bench. It’s time for us to get off the bench. Bench sitters, it’s time for you to step up and give. There are going to be other seasons in this deal. We are not stopping here. God doesn’t stop because money is a tool to build God’s kingdom on earth but it’s also a test.
You might say, “Yes, Jesus is number one.” Is he? How about your giving to the local church? I love what David said in 1 Chronicles 21:24. In effect he said, “God, I am not going to give you anything that doesn’t cost me something.”
The problem with a lot of bench sitters is, “I’ll try to give something to the church if it benefits me and helps me in this realm. Let me talk to my accountant or the tax guy.” I’m all for accountants and tax stuff, but forget that junk. You just give, and God will take care of you.
The second box, “I will continue to meet my prior commitment to ‘Get in the Game.’” That’s for those who are injured. Maybe you pulled a financial hamstring. We understand. We will give you twelve more months to complete your deal.
Third box, “I have completed my commitment and want to continue to giving to ‘Get in the Game.’” Lisa and I are almost through with our commitment. We are going to give along the same clip, hopefully more, for the next 12-14 months. That’s from July 2002 to July ’03. Weekly, monthly, one time gift.
Now total your gift. You might want to talk to your spouse. Pray with her or pray with him. Talk to someone about it right now. We will give you a couple of moments to do so. This should be just a special time, a fun time, a freeing time. If you feel any pressure, it’s coming from two areas. It’s coming from the Holy Spirit of God or it’s coming from false pressure you shouldn’t feel anyway. Hopefully, you can discern that. I believe the Spirit of God is working in many lives here and this is something, guys, that we can do. As God looks at this hub, he is saying, “Fellowship Church, we can do this. No doubt about it.” We have got to do it for the glory of God because God is blessing so much.
You know, it’s interesting from a speaker’s perspective, I talk about certain subjects and people really get freaked out; yet, you can talk about sex, marriage, relationships, and people are pretty cool with it. But if you talk about money, it’s so personal. That’s why Jesus talked about it so much. We all struggle with it, don’t we? We make it. We think, “It’s mine.” And God says it is not. It’s a reflection, a litmus test, of where we are.
Did you guys check out that storm last night? Was that unbelievable? How many of you guys lost power last night? I knew something was going to happen because I killed a monster snake at our house yesterday. I don’t know why I told you that. I thought it was a water moccasin. I hit him with a hoe. He was right by the kids. After I killed it, the dogs grabbed it and started shaking it. It’s like we live in the Wild Kingdom out there.
If you are through with this, and most everyone should fill this out, but not everyone. If you are through, fold it, of course; send it back the way you got it. Your row captain will hold onto these, and our ushers will come by and they will collect them. If you are still working on it, you can hold it and throw it into the information desk as you exit.
I am so thrilled about what God is doing here. I am so thrilled about this Creative Communications Complex. It’s all about decisions, man. It’s all about decisions, woman. A lot of us, when we walk into that brand new facility on June 15th and 16th, a lot of us are going to go, “Yeah, God,” because we gave to make it happen. We will see our kids come to Christ there. Maybe we will see our children get married there. We’ll see someone get baptized there. We will go, “Yeah, God, I had a part in that. I gave for that.”
Yet, some of you—I hate to say this but I know—some of you will walk in and see your kids get saved there, someone you know get baptized there, see a family member get married there, but in your heart of hearts, you sat the bench. That hurts my heart and more than that, it hurts the heart of God. So, don’t let that be you. I don’t want to keep you from the blessing. I don’t want to keep you from what God has for your life.
Again, if you are visiting, I think you picked a great time to show up at Fellowship Church because you are seeing how important you are to us. We are giving because of you and for all the people you are going to invite who are not here yet.
We are getting ready for my favorite part of the message in a couple of seconds. I can’t wait for this. This is going to be something that I just love to show you. We have got to wait.
The great thing about God’s economy, too, is everybody is equal. You see, if someone makes like $25,000 a year and you give $2,500 to Fellowship Church, that’s a huge gift, huge. But if you make a million a year and give $100,000, get that weak stuff out of here. That’s not a gift. That’s peanuts. That’s what God says. It’s not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice.
The Coach has us in the huddle. The Coach gives us the game-winning strategy. He says, “I will build my church.” That’s what He is about. He looks at you, and He looks at me, and He throws the ball to us and tells us this, “If we do life God’s way, then life and this Creative Communications Complex will be a slam dunk.”
(Video)